Leon Thomas’ soulful ballad “Mutt” joins a protracted line of songs with canine themes or variations of canine phrases of their titles to make the highest 40 on the Billboard Sizzling 100.
Whereas our focus right here is on prime 40 singles, we need to no less than point out some dog-themed songs that had been drawn from studio albums that reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 – Elvis Presley’s “Outdated Shep” from Elvis (1956), The Monkees’ “Gonna Purchase Me a Canine” from The Monkees (1966), The Beatles’ “Martha My Pricey” from The Beatles (1968), Led Zeppelin’s “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” from Led Zeppelin III (1970), Snoop Doggy Dogg’s “Doggy Dogg World” from Doggy Fashion (1993), Carrie Underwood’s “The Extra Boys I Meet” from Carnival Experience (2007), and Luke Bryan’s “Little Boys Develop Up and Canine Get Outdated” from Kill the Lights (2015).
Two of probably the most well-known dog-themed songs pre-date the 1958 arrival of the Sizzling 100. Patti Web page’s “The Doggie within the Window” and Willie Mae “Huge Mama” Thornton’s “Hound Canine” had been launched inside a month of one another in early 1953. They couldn’t be extra totally different, however each discovered success. Web page’s corny however ultra-catchy novelty smash featured barking sounds by “Joe and Mac.” Thornton’s boisterous rendition of “Hound Canine” topped an early Billboard R&B chart for seven weeks. Presley’s cowl model, launched in 1956 as a double-sided smash with “Don’t Be Merciless,” was one of many greatest hits of the Fifties.
The success of “Mutt,” which has climbed as excessive as No. 12 on the Billboard Sizzling 100, led us to look again over time at different prime 40 hits with canine themes or variations of canine phrases of their titles.
Canine convey us pleasure, companionship and love — they usually have impressed some memorable songs as well. This doesn’t purport to be an entire record, but it surely’s a wholesome sampling. The record additionally demonstrates the surprisingly some ways by which canine phrases and phrases have entered the language – references to “pet love,” “doggin’ round” and “canine days” in addition to the PG-rated expletive “doggone.”
The songs are listed in chronological order.
“Pet Love,” Paul Anka, 1960
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 2 in 1960
Notes: Anka wrote this oh-so-dramatic tune, which offers with the depth of younger crushes. It grew to become his fourth consecutive single to make the highest 5 on the Sizzling 100, following “Lonely Boy,” “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “It’s Time To Cry.” In 1972, Donny Osmond recorded a canopy model that reached No. 3. Anka was 18 when his authentic model was a smash. Osmond was even youthful – simply 14 – when he had the hit.
“Doggin’ Round,” Jackie Wilson, 1960
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 15
Notes: This bluesy lament about an untrue accomplice was the B-side of Wilson’s prime 5 smash “Night time.” B-sides had been charted individually in that period, and by itself, this made No. 15.
“Strolling the Canine,” Rufus Thomas, 1963
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 10
Notes: Thomas wrote this funky tune, which grew to become his greatest hit. It was voted into the Grammy Corridor of Fame in 2020.
“I’ll Be Doggone,” Marvin Gaye, 1965
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 8
Notes: Smokey Robinson co-wrote this tune, which grew to become Gaye’s second single in a row to make the highest 10 on the Sizzling 100. The tune options Robinson’s characteristically witty wordplay: “However I ever noticed you operating round blowing my cash throughout this city/ Then I wouldn’t be doggone, I’d be lengthy gone.”
“They’re Coming To Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!,” Napoleon XIV, 1966
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 3
Notes: Napoleon XIV seems to be addressing a misplaced love on this inane novelty file. He describes his deteriorating psychological situation within the wake of her departure. Nevertheless, the ultimate verse reveals that the narrator will not be addressing a girl, however moderately a runaway canine: “They’ll discover you but, and after they do, they’ll put you within the ASPCA, you mangy mutt!” Samuels was involved that the tune could be seen as offensive in the direction of these with psychological and emotional issues.
“Snoopy vs. the Pink Baron,” The Royal Guardsmen, 1967
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 2
Notes: This novelty tune concerning the well-known canine on the middle of Charles Schulz’s beloved Peanuts cartoon strip spent 4 weeks at No. 2 in 1967. The Royal Guardsmen, a Florida storage band, didn’t have permission to file a tune based mostly on what we might now name “invaluable mental property,” however Schulz retroactively gave it his blessing. It was a much less litigious time.
“Doggone Proper,” Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, 1969
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 32
Notes: Robinson clearly favored to make use of the phrase “doggone” in a tune. He additionally co-wrote this hit for his personal group. It was the follow-up to a prime 10 hit, “Child, Child Don’t Cry.”
“Me and You and a Canine Named Boo,” Lobo, 1971
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 5
Notes: This candy tune was Lobo’s first Sizzling 100 hit. The strains “travelin’ and livin’ off the land…how I really like bein’ a free man” present how the hippie ethos had made its approach to AM radio. Lobo would have two extra prime 10 hits within the subsequent two years: “I’d Love You to Need Me” in 1972 and “Don’t Count on Me To Be Your Pal” in 1973. Lobo wrote all three of those songs by himself.
“Black Canine,” Led Zeppelin, 1972
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 15
Notes: Alas, this isn’t a tune a couple of black Lab — the title here’s a metaphor for melancholy. This was the highest-charting hit from Led Zeppelin IV. The album’s most basic monitor, “Stairway to Heaven,” was by no means launched as a single.
“Shannon,” Henry Gross, 1976
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 6
Notes: On this tearjerker, Gross remembered a beloved canine who had died. Essentially the most touching strains: “Shannon is gone, I hope she’s drifting out to sea/ She at all times cherished to swim away/ Possibly she’ll discover an island with a shaded tree/ Identical to the one in our yard.” This Seaside Boys-inspired recording was Gross’ first prime 40 hit on the Sizzling 100. The follow-up, “Springtime Mama,” additionally made the highest 40. Gross wrote all 4 of his Sizzling 100 hits by himself.
“Canine + Butterfly,” Coronary heart, 1979
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 34
Notes: This midtempo ballad was the title monitor of Coronary heart’s fourth studio album, which depicts each a canine and a butterfly on its cowl. This was the follow-up to the highest 15 hit “Straight On.”
“Who Let the Canine Out,” Baha Males, 2000
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 40
Notes: This was the primary Sizzling 100 hit for the dance-junkaroo band from the Bahamas. This catchy tune received a Grammy for finest dance recording. The large hook from the tune soundtracked a key scene within the 2009 field workplace smash The Hangover.
“Canine Days Are Over,” Florence + the Machine, 2010
Sizzling 100 peak: No. 21
Notes: This was Florence Welch’s first Sizzling 100 hit, reaching No. 21 in October 2010. A model by the forged of Glee fared practically as nicely, reaching No. 22 that December. (They reacted shortly on that present.)
“Mutt,” Leon Thomas, 2025
Sizzling 100 peak: #12
Notes: This old-school soul ballad is Thomas’ first Sizzling 100 hit. Thomas, who received a Grammy for co-writing SZA’s “Snooze,” additionally co-wrote this tune. In an interview with Rated R&B, Thomas spoke of the tune’s origins: “As I began engaged on the album in my new house, I started to note similarities between my canine’s habits and my very own. … My canine will not be a pure breed; he’s a mutt. … Regardless that my canine might typically make a multitude in the home or bark loudly on the neighbors, I do know he means nicely. This grew to become a metaphor for not being an ideal accomplice however having good intentions.”
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